Unknown number calling: what to do in the next five seconds

The first five seconds while it rings

Do not guess, look at the screen. Turkcaller looks the number up as the call arrives and puts a card at the top before you pick up. That card is your answer.

1. Read the card. If the number is known, you see the caller name, the city and, for a business, its category. Country and carrier are on the search result screen.
2. A red spam warning means do not answer. The number beside it is how many people reported that line.
3. If the card shows a business you were expecting, such as a bank, a courier or a clinic, answer.
4. If the screen shows nothing, let it ring. Real callers try again or leave a message.

None of this needs your call log permission. Turkcaller only sees the number ringing right now.

Answer or ignore: the quick table

Whatever Turkcaller puts on the call card and the result screen is your decision. It is that short.

The only thing needed for that card to appear is Turkcaller installed.

Four things to check before you call back

Calling back is not a free move. It proves your number is live and answered. So look first, dial second.

1. Type the number into the Search tab. You see how many people reported it and what name other people saved it under. Those two lines usually settle whether it is worth returning.
2. Check the country. If a call comes from a country you have no business with, do not return it.
3. If the number starts with 444 or 0850, it is a corporate line in Turkey, and Turkcaller puts the company name on your screen.
4. Read the comments. How many people got the same story from the same number is usually in the first one.

Block and report sit on that same screen, so you finish the decision where you made it.

A missed call: how to find out who it was

There is a number in your call history and no name next to it. This is the easiest problem to close.

• The moment the call ends, a card appears with the caller details and buttons to save, block or report. Missed calls get one too, as long as the lookup found something (a name, a spam report or a comment).
• When Turkcaller is your default phone app, the numbers in your call history are identified and listed with their names.
• To check a number by hand, type it into the Search tab.
• The report count and risk level on the result tell you whether that call is worth returning.

An example: a missed call from 0555 000 00 00. If the result says high risk with a report count, there is nothing to return. Block it and move on.

If a voicemail was left

Voicemail is a good filter. People with real business say what they want, automated calls do not.

• If the message gives a name, a company and a reason, you can call back.
• If the message gives you a number to call, look that number up before you dial it.
• If you are asked for a code, a password, card details or a payment, do not call back at all.
• Silent messages, or ones that cut off after a couple of seconds, come from automated dialers. Nothing to return.

When the same number keeps calling

Repeated calls are designed to wear you down. Instead of deciding every time, make one setting once.

1. If it is the same number, use block and reject on the incoming call screen.
2. If the numbers change but the story is the same, report each one. Reports become a warning for the next person.
3. To silence everyone who is not in your address book, turn on the switch that blocks callers not in contacts on the Protect screen.
4. For people who hide their number, there is a separate switch that blocks private numbers.

Corporate lines listed in the business directory are recognised and let through. If the lookup returns nothing, the call is still blocked.

Night calls and numbers from abroad

A phone ringing at 3am is rarely worth waking up for. Calls that ring once and hang up are never worth returning.

• You can block a whole country. The option to block a country sits in the blocked numbers list on the Protect screen.
• To stop spam calls from ringing at all, turn on auto-block spam calls on the Protect screen. It is off until you turn it on, and until then a high risk call still rings and arrives with a red card.

You also choose what happens to a blocked call.

• Reject: the caller hears a busy or rejection tone.
• Reject silently: the caller keeps hearing ringing and never learns they were blocked.
• Silence only: the call comes in quietly and lands in your list as a missed call.

Silence only suits people who want an undisturbed night and a look at the list in the morning.

Callers who claim to be your bank or an institution

Money lost on these calls does not come back, so the rule is short: a call that rushes you is a call you end. The caller frightens you and pushes you to act before you think.

1. Hang up. If the institution really called, dial its own official number. The one on the back of your card is the number to trust.
2. Check whether a company name appeared on screen. Turkcaller puts the company name on corporate 444 and 0850 lines, so a bank calling from an ordinary mobile number gives itself away.
3. Never read out a verification code, a password or card details on a call.
4. If you are asked to install a remote access app or move your money to another account, end the call.
5. Do not tap links in the message that arrives right after the call.

A message usually arrives right after these calls. With Turkcaller as your default messaging app, the suspicious ones land in a separate folder instead of your inbox.

How blocking works in Turkcaller

You block a number wherever you happen to see it. No separate screen to hunt for, and every route writes to the same list.

1. The block and reject button on the incoming call screen.
2. A long press on the number in your call history, then block.
3. The block button on the number detail screen.
4. The block button on the result screen, with report right next to it.
5. Adding the number by hand to the blocked numbers list on the Protect screen.

Blocking is not permanent. Remove the number from that list at any time and it can reach you again.

Report it and protect the next person

When you report a number, the report goes into the community records, and the next person it calls sees the warning while their phone is still ringing.

• Use the report button on the result screen for a call that bothered you.
• If a result shows the wrong name, the link to report a wrong result is on the same screen.
• To see how your own number looks to others, verify it and manage its visibility.

Setup in three steps

You set it up once and it keeps working on its own.

1. Install Turkcaller and sign in with your Google account.
2. On the Protect screen, grant the permission that lets it see the ringing number. Caller names and spam warnings run on it.
3. If you want, make Turkcaller your default phone and messaging app. Dialpad, call history, contacts and the full screen call display come together in one place.

In the free version, the caller name and spam warning on incoming calls never run out. Manual searches have a daily allowance, and when it is used up, caller ID keeps working on its own daily allowance.

• Premium removes ads.
• Your daily search allowance goes up.
• You get told who searched your number.
• The gold badge appears on your profile.
• With incognito search, the person you look up does not see you.
• The interface comes in 44 languages.

Frequently asked questions

Should I answer a call from an unknown number?

Let the screen decide. If Turkcaller shows a name or a verified business, answer. If there is a spam warning, do not. If there is nothing at all, let it ring. Real callers try again or leave a message.

Is it safe to call back an unknown number?

Look it up first. The country, carrier, report count and comments usually settle it. If the caller claimed to be an institution, dial that institution's official number instead.

What does a call that rings once and hangs up mean?

It is there to make you call back, which tells the other side your number is live. Do not return those calls. Look the number up and block it if needed.

How do I find out who a missed call was from?

The card that appears right after the call shows the caller details, and missed calls get one too as long as the lookup found something. To check later, type the number into the Search tab. As your default phone app, Turkcaller already lists call history with names.

Can I find out who a number belongs to without calling it?

Yes. Type it into the Search tab and you see the spam report count, the name other people saved it under and any business details. On an incoming call, Turkcaller looks the number up before you answer. It does not need your call log permission for that, only the number ringing at that moment.

A number I do not know keeps calling me, what should I do?

Block it once instead of deciding on every call. If the numbers change but the story stays the same, report each one. To silence everyone who is not in your address book, turn on the switch that blocks callers not in contacts on the Protect screen.

Will a blocked caller know they were blocked?

That is your choice. Reject gives the caller a busy or rejection tone. Reject silently keeps them hearing ringing, so they cannot tell. Silence only lets the call in quietly as a missed call.

Does Turkcaller read my messages?

Message classification runs on your device by default. Server assisted analysis is a separate switch, and depending on your install it may already be on. You can see its state on the Protect screen and turn it off whenever you want. While it is on, the message text is sent to the server for analysis. Separately, only the sender number is reported for spam counting, and the content of your messages is not part of that.

Can I see who searched my number?

Yes, with Premium. You get a notification when someone looks your number up, along with no ads, a higher daily allowance, the gold badge and incognito search.

Is there a free way to find out who called?

Yes. Caller names on incoming calls, spam warnings and blocking all work for free. Manual searches have their own daily allowance, separate from identification on incoming calls, so when one runs out the other keeps working.

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